


So Special

by Nath_The_Master



Series: Lumberjanes Saga [1]
Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: Character Death, Character Study, Jo-Centirc Work, because we need more, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24186049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nath_The_Master/pseuds/Nath_The_Master
Summary: Formerly “A Meeting In A Museum In Paris and What Came From It”"Guess I've gotta find another ride, guess I'll see you in another life"Many years ago, at a museum in Paris, was a meeting that changed the course of history, for some. This is the story of what came after.Or, Jo's mother tells a story, April and Jo celebrate Mothers' Day, and The Roanokes learn.
Relationships: Jo's Dads? Vey gay, Jo's mom? Also very gay, Vague Jopril? Maybe
Series: Lumberjanes Saga [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745641
Kudos: 2





	So Special

**Author's Note:**

> This fic originally came about from a reply to @luminouslu on Tumblr about Jo's mom. This is my first fic for Lumberjanes, though I am most definitely not new here. 
> 
> The only things I am in possession of are Jo's mom (as a character) and her [Jo's] deadname. 
> 
> I have changed the title to ‘So Special’ by MUNA to fit with the there of the next two works
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been six years. Six years that included some interesting revelations, from Jo coming out to her dads as trans three moths before camp, to said camp, which she was currently being allowed to leave for two days with the rest of her cabin. Sitting in a seat in Ripley’s family’s van, she stared out the window and remembered.

_**Mothers’ Day, 2014.** _

_Climbing out of Uncle Alan’s car, she she watched as April, surprisingly carefully for a seven-year-old, pulled a box out of the passenger seat. Reaching behind her best friend, she grabbed the vase of flowers and envelope still on the seat, and nested them into her arms, along with her lunchbox from school._

_“Come on, Alex! You’re so sloooooow!” April shouted from the steps._

_“I’m coming!” she replied, climbing the few stairs leading to the front doors of Group Health Central Hospital._

_Following April inside, she reached the receptionist desk and grinned._

_“Hi, Ms Betty, how are you?” The greying receptionist smiled at her words, an odd expression on her face (She would later find out Betty thought she was adorable)._

_“Hello, Alex, April. Here to visit your mother, Alex?”_

_At Jo’s nod, Betty reached for a clipboard and a pen._

_“Since it’s regulation, you still have to give me your names, first and last, please,”_

_Looking at April, a silent understanding passed between them._

_April spoke up, “April Burnett, ma’am.”_

_Following April, she added, “Alexander Sakiyaki. Do you need it spelled?”_

_“You’re here every week Alex, I think I know how to spell your name.” Betty made that weird expression again as she filled out the paper in her clipboard, “You can go on back, you know the way.”_

_Laughing, she raced April through the halls to her mother’s room. Reaching the door, they stopped to catch their breaths and compose themselves before knocking on the thick white door._

_“Come in!” a voice, a bit rough, but still musical, called._

_While April walked in calmly, with a bit of bounce in her step, Jo ran in full speed and jumped to hug the woman sitting in the armchair by the window._

_“Mama!” she shouted, laughing as she was peppered in kisses._

_“Alex, April, hello darlings!”_

_April waved, a grin splitting across her face. “Hi Aunt Kyoko! Happy mother’s day!”_

_Scoffing, Kyoko opened her arms more, bringing April into her hug as well._

_From her place tucked into her mother’s side, Jo spoke up, “We brought you some things!” Sitting up, she grabbed the flower vase and card from April, and presented them to Kyoko with a flourish, at the same time as April with the box._

_“Thank you, darlings!” Opening the card, a pile of glitter fell on the Asian woman’s lap to reveal the classic slogan of the holiday. After reading the card and admiring the flowers, she opened the box._

_“Look! They’re cookies! We decorated them ourselves!” April pointed at the cookies, half covered in glitter and mermaid scale like designs, one with a shaky Japanese character written on it, and one, pristine, almost perfect flower. “Uncles James and Leo did that one.”_

_“They’re wonderful!” Kyoko said. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she added, “To be honest, I like yours the best.”_

_April and Jo beamed._

_“How did you and Papa get married?” Jo asked, out of the blue._

_“Let me tell you a story.”_

_April and Jo sat expectantly at Kyoko’s feet, star struck as she began her story._

_“Many years ago, at a museum in Paris, was my first ever art show as a professional. I was bored out of my skull, having to talk to so many stuffy business people. Then, I met a man who was charming, funny, nice, and incredibly good looking. I asked him out to lunch, and he complied. At said lunch, I confessed to him that my parents (who were pretty famous business people in Japan, at the time) were expecting me to marry a nice, rich MAN so I could continue the Sakiyaki familial line. I continued with the fact that, as a lesbian woman, I had no plan to do so. The man laughed, and added in he was gay, with a partner back in America. We quickly became friends, so when my parents pressured me into getting married, I married him, with consent from his boyfriend. A year later, I had a baby, a small boy with a head full of hair and very long fingers, that we named Alexander Hiroki Sakiyaki. Then, we got divorced so your Papa could marry Dad, but we still lived together because we were best friends, like you two. The end.”_

_After a few moments of silence, April blurted out, “You went to Paris? Did you meet Emilie Agreste, the famous actress?”_

_About an hour later, Kyoko was teaching April how to draw while Jo worked on a project._

_Hearing a small bang, then an ouch, Kyoko looked at her child._

_“Alex, love, what are you doing?”_

_“No! You can’t see yet, It‘s a surprise!” Jo leaned over her project, glaring at her mother. “You’ll get to see when you come home! When is that gonna be?”_

_“Saturday, love. The doctors say I’ll be well enough to go home then!”_

_Cheering, April and Jo jumped up, bouncing around the room in a hug._

_“Mama’s coming home on Saturday!” was all anyone passing by heard._

_Two days Later, 2014_

_It had been a nice day, sunny and not too warm, to get prepared for Kyoko’s move back to the house. Leo and James cleaned and redecorated her bedroom while Jo ran around finishing her project for her mother._

_Nice until the phone rang, at least._

_Jo watched silently as Leo answered the phone._

_“Hello? Yes, this is him. Oh...oh my god.” her heart froze as the normally so composed man’s hand went to his mouth and tears filled his eyes. “Yes, I’ll tell him. And Alan and April, they deserve to know too. Email me the papers and I can send them to you.” hanging up the phone, her father just stood there, hand over his mouth. Sighing, he bent down to Jo’s level and took her hand._

_“There’s no easy way to say this, but mama won’t be coming home this Saturday, or any Saturday.”_

_“Friday?” Jo asked, her heart still frozen._

_“No. She’ll be coming home never, love.”_

_Her eyes widening, Jo dropped her Papa’s hand and walked to the door in a sort of daze. “Nope, nope, nope, nope...”_

_Now halfway down the long driveway, she startled when her dad picked her straight up off the ground._

_“I’m so sorry, buddy.”_

_She buried her face in her dad’s suit jacket and cried._

**_Present Day_ **

“Jo! Jo! Jo! Jo!”

A voice broke her out of her thoughts. Ripley’s voice, presumably, as the small girl bounced in the seat behind her.

“Where are we going? Is it somewhere fun? Is it-” The blue haired ball of energy was cut off by Jen, who had placed a hand over Ripley’s mouth.

“Why don’t you leave Jo alone, Ripley? The place we’re going is not fun, it means a lot to Jo.” Jo looked at Jen, then, silently thanking her. “Also, we’re here.”

Once the Roanokes, Jen, and Ripley’s parents were out of the van, Jo started down the familiar path that she had walked on this day for the past six years. Her dads falling into step with her, with April holding her hand tightly, Jo spoke up.

“It’s my mom’s birthday. I want you to meet her.”

“If we’re meeting here, why are we in a graveyard?” Ripley had broken free from her mother’s grasp, and was now bounding along behind Jo.

She heard Mal and Molly go to shush the 12-year-old, but waved them off.

“We’re in a graveyard because she died a few years ago. When I was seven.” she looked down after her statement, kicking at rocks on the path as a silence fell over the group.

“We’re here.”

Her mum’s grave wasn’t anything fancy, just her name, years she lived, and an engraving of her favourite flower on a basic stone tombstone.

After a few moments of silence as the rest of the Roanokes digested this information, Molly spoke up.

“I bet she was amazing.”

“She was. She would have liked you guys.”

“She taught me how to draw, how to be a good investigator, and how to use a sword. She was the greatest.” Jo sniffed, fighting back tears as April grabbed her hand and guided her to sit down in front of the tombstone.

“I bet, wherever she is now, she’s smiling at you, glad her beautiful daughter has such good friends.” her dad said, placing a hand on her shoulder (the most he could do, with all the Roanokes hugging Jo at the same time).

Tears freely dripping down her face now, Jo nodded slightly.

Maybe it wasn’t okay. But it would be.

**Author's Note:**

> A few things explained for clarity:
> 
> The idea behind Jo’s mom being said to go home on one day but not doing so was shamelessly taken from My Neighbor Totoro.
> 
> This is in the same universe as Miraculous Ladybug, but only because I don’t know of any famous french people besides musicians. 
> 
> This was completely un-beta’d, so if there are any mistakes they are all mine.
> 
> I based the years off of this present year, hence Jo’s mom dying when she was seven, in 2014. Jo in this fic is 13, as one of the writers for Lumberjanes has stated the only one with a concrete age is Ripley (12), but all the other girls are somewhere in between 12-14. 
> 
> Jo’s deadname is entirely headcanon. 
> 
> Thanks for reading my long, rambling thoughts!
> 
> XO, 
> 
> Nath


End file.
